Two-dimensional free-surface gravity flow past blunt bodies

Abstract

Most of the wave resistance of blunt bow displacement ships is caused by the bow-breaking wave. A theoretical study of the phenomenon for the two-dimensional steady flow past a blunt body of semi-infinite length is presented. The exact equations of free-surface gravity flow are solved approximately by two perturbation expansions. The small Froude number solution, representing the flow beneath an unbroken free surface before the body, is carried out to second order. The breaking of the free surface is assumed to be related to a local Taylor instability, and the application of the stability criterion determines the value of the critical Froude number which characterizes breaking. The high Froude number solution is based on the model of a jet detaching from the bow and not returning to the flow field. The outer expansion of the equations yields the linearized gravity flow equations, which are solved by the Wiener-Hopf technique. The inner expansion gives a nonlinear gravity-free flow in the vicinity of the bow a t zero order. The matching of the inner and outer expansions provides the jet thickness as well as the associated drag.